[mark poulson]

You should look at Tackle Warehouse - bass fishing pro shop for fishing rods, reels, swimbaits and lures. .
They have good prices, a really good selection of stuff we use out here in SoCal, and ship immediately. I live in L.A., they're up the coast a little, and I get stuff UPS the next day. For you it might be two days.
Give them a peek.

[DSV]

haha i am very well aware of tacklewarehouse. i have placed many orders from them.

but i wasnt out to spend over a hundred dollars on a swimbait rod, specially because i wasnt sure if swimbaits would really produce in my area, so i bought a cheap swimbait rod from bass pro.

[mark poulson]

Dont tell anyone, but the Okuma line of swimbait rods is a steal. $100+-. Also google fig rods, and go to the Matt Newman swimbait rods. $100+- also.
If you find you're going to be throwing swimbaits a lot, and you want a different rod, look at the Okuma line. They have affordable 8' rods that work, and any swimbait over three ounces will wear you out if you're making long casts with a 7'6" rod, no matter how good it is.
As Captain Jack Sparrow says, "It's a matter of leverage".
They cast as well as my Shimano Crucial swimbait rods, for just about half the price.

[DSV]

hate to tell you, but almost everyone knows the okuma guide series rods are great swimbait rods for a low price

i just wasnt sure how well swimbaits were gonna produce in my area, so i got a cheapie.

i casted with this rod in my yard with a 2.5oz weight, and this thing handled it like a champ. i was casting my full spool of line all the way to the bare spool. almost hit a couple cars driving down the road

[mark poulson]

That's great. Sounds like the rod you picked is up to the task.

[jamie]

Mark I even use the okuma rods for some musky baits works great for throwing spinners and twitch baits

[mark poulson]

Jamie, I use the 7'6" med heavy for 6"-9" lunker punker-type lures, because I can work them better with the shorter rod. 8' rods kick my butt for working lures, but they're great for launching them.

[jamie]

Mark Its the opposite when musky fishing the longer the rod the easier on your back it is. The rod takes the load makes all day fishing easier. You can really tell the difference when fishing a short rod throwing 2 to 12oz baits, ouch!!!!

[mark poulson]

Man, I can't even imagine what it's like to throw 12oz baits! I can see why you need a longer rod. I built a 13' surf rod years ago to throw big baits into the kelp, but I don't think I've ever thrown something that big.
I use the 7'6" for 2-3oz swimbaits, which I generally throw side arm or underhand, and to throw punkers, which are glide baits. The butts on the two rods I use are short enough to make walking these baits easier, and the shorter rod is more accurate for parallel casting.
I use an 8' heavy crucial rod for 8" huddlestons, and other similar 4-5oz swimbaits, which need a long cast.
The biggest lure I throw is 6ozs (a 5 piece swimbait I made), and I don't throw it for too long. I use an 8' extra heavy Crucial rod for that, and it wears me out after a while.
I've seen Pete Maina on TV, throwing some big stuff for muskies, but I don't think I've ever seen him throw 12oz.
You Da Man!!!!!

[DSV]

The lure looks kickass, but, to quote mark poulson, it doesnt swim for beans

i tried removing the floating tail and it helped a little, but not much.

i am going to put a lip on it and then see how it swims.